Intentions to Marry, 1906 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840432, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1906 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1906a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1906b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1906c).

Page 618

District of INVERCARGILL Quarter ending 31 December 1906

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

157

13 October 1906

Robert John Cooper
Sarah Duyer

Robert John Cooper
Sarah Dwyer
💍 1906/7493

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Ganger
Domestic

33
25

Winton, Southland
Yarrow Street, INVERCARGILL

3 years
2 years

Residence of Lawrence Duyer, Ryal Bush, Southland

06/1766

13 October 1906

Rev. Patrick C. O'Gorman

No	157
Date of Notice	13 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Cooper	Sarah Duyer
BDM Match (95%)	Robert John Cooper	Sarah Dwyer
	💍 1906/7493
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Ganger	Domestic
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Winton, Southland	Yarrow Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Lawrence Duyer, Ryal Bush, Southland
Folio	06/1766
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick C. O'Gorman

158

15 October 1906

Richard Garthwaite
Mary Jane Harding

Richard Garthwaite
Mary Jane Harding
💍 1906/7298

Richard Jack Louie
Melyn Maud Harding
💍 1906/7317

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

55
38

55 Esk Street, INVERCARGILL
Esk Street, INVERCARGILL

6 days
6 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

06/17348

15 October 1906

Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

No	158
Date of Notice	15 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Garthwaite	Mary Jane Harding
	💍 1906/7298
BDM Match (61%)	Richard Jack Louie	Melyn Maud Harding
	💍 1906/7317
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	55	38
Dwelling Place	55 Esk Street, INVERCARGILL	Esk Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	6 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL
Folio	06/17348
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

159

16 October 1906

Arthur Messent
Catherine Moylan

Arthur Messent
Catherine Moylan
💍 1906/7323

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

27
22

Wrights Bush, INVERCARGILL
Wrights Bush, INVERCARGILL

3 days
8 days

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL

06/17373

16 October 1906

Rev. Father O'Malley

No	159
Date of Notice	16 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Messent	Catherine Moylan
	💍 1906/7323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Wrights Bush, INVERCARGILL	Wrights Bush, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	8 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	06/17373
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Malley

160

17 October 1906

Ernest McDowell
Harriett Holmes

Ernest McDowell
Harriett Holmes
💍 1906/7304

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
24

West Plains, Southland
West Plains, Southland

4 months
6 months

Residence of Rev. G. Lindsay, Kelvin Street, INVERCARGILL

06/17362

17 October 1906

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	160
Date of Notice	17 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest McDowell	Harriett Holmes
	💍 1906/7304
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	West Plains, Southland	West Plains, Southland
Length of Residence	4 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. G. Lindsay, Kelvin Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	06/17362
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

161

18 October 1906

Charles Herbert Poole
Mary Jane Dingwall

Charles Herbert Poole
Mary Jane Dingwall
💍 1906/7347

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Shop Assistant

35
26

Tiviot Street, INVERCARGILL
Ettrick Street, INVERCARGILL

12 years
5 years

Residence of Nathaniel Young, Ettrick Street, INVERCARGILL

06/17381

18 October 1906

Rev. R. Raine

No	161
Date of Notice	18 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Herbert Poole	Mary Jane Dingwall
	💍 1906/7347
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Shop Assistant
Age	35	26
Dwelling Place	Tiviot Street, INVERCARGILL	Ettrick Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Nathaniel Young, Ettrick Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	06/17381
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Raine

162

20 October 1906

William Robert Ronald
Janet Breighton Stevens

William Robert Ronald
Janet Creichton Stevens
💍 1906/7307

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
25

Waianiwa, Southland
Wallacetown, Southland

25 years
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Wallacetown, Southland

06/17365

20 October 1906

Rev. J. Y. Burrows

No	162
Date of Notice	20 October 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Robert Ronald	Janet Breighton Stevens
BDM Match (96%)	William Robert Ronald	Janet Creichton Stevens
	💍 1906/7307
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Waianiwa, Southland	Wallacetown, Southland
Length of Residence	25 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Wallacetown, Southland
Folio	06/17365
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Y. Burrows

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).